Age as a factor in the relation between work and mental health: results from the longitudinal TAS survey

To test these relations they used data from a longitudinal study on the Dutch work situation, and included different age-related variables (as indicators of different operationalisations of the factor age). The relation between work and mental health was examined for three different age groups, namely for older workers (> 50 years old), young workers (<35 years old) and middle aged workers (35-50 years old). As relevant age-related variables to explain age in the relation between work and mental health, the research included company tenure, health status, and home situation. Multiple subgroup-regression analyses revealed evidence for longitudinal effects of work characteristics on indicators of mental health. Conclusions are that designing challenges, but not too demanding work environments is an important step in maintaining and improving the mental health of all age-groups.